Phone: (309) 681-6397
Fax: (309) 681-6672
Room 3131B
USDA ARS NCAUR
1815 N University St.
Peoria IL 61604

Kirk Broders is a plant pathologist with training in mycology and microbial ecology. He received his BSc. in Biology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2004) and his PhD in Plant Pathology from The Ohio State University (2008) where he studied the ecology and epidemiology of soilborne pathogens of corn and soybean. Dr. Broders completed a post-doctoral research position at the University of Guelph from 2009-2010 where he studied the population genetics and ecology of invasive plant pathogens. Dr. Broders was a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire from 2010-2014 and Colorado State University from 2014-2018 where his research focused on the ecology, evolution and epidemiology of plant pathogens in both forested and agricultural ecosystems. Prior to joining the ARS he was a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama where he was studying the role of fungal and oomycete pathogens in driving tree species diversity in the tropics. In his position as the Curator of the NRRL Dr. Broders will be responsible for managing the ARS Culture Collection and will work to increase collaborative efforts between the collection and other units at the National Agricultural Utilization Research Center as well as researchers from other ARS units, Universities and industry.

Click to Access my Publications 

• Projects

  Management and Characterization of Microbial Genetic Resources and Associated Descriptive Information In-House Appropriated (D)   Accession Number:443864

• Publications

  • (Clicking on the reprint icon will take you to the publication reprint.)
  • Standards of diagnostic validation: recommendations for reference collections -(Review Article)
    Harmon, C., Castlebury, L.A., Boundy-Mills, K., Broders, K.D., Hyten, A.M., Jacobs, J., Knight-Connoni, V., Mollov, D.S., Riojas, M.A., Sharma, P. 2023. Standards of diagnostic validation: recommendations for reference collections. PhytoFrontiers. 3(1):43-50. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTOFR-05-22-0050-FI.
    
  • Brome grasses represent the primary source of Claviceps purpurea inoculum associated with barley fields in the San Luis Valley of Colorado -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Wyka, S., Broders, K. 2022. Brome grasses represent the primary source of Claviceps purpurea inoculum associated with barley fields in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology. 45(1):15-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/07060661.2022.2091041.
    
  • Microbial diversity declines in warmed tropical soil and respiration rise exceed predictions as communities adapt -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Nottingham, A.T., Scott, J.J., Saltonstall, K., Broders, K., Montero-Sanchez, M., Puspok, J., Baath, E., Meir, P. 2022. Microbial diversity declines in warmed tropical soil and respiration rise exceed predictions as communities adapt. Nature Microbiology. 7:650–1660. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01200-1.
    
  • Phyllachora species infecting maize and other grass species in the Americas represents a complex of closely related species -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Broders, K., Iriarte-Broders, G., Bergstrom, G.C., Byamukama, E., Chilvers, M., Cruz, C., Dalla-Lana, F., Duray, Z., Malvick, D., Mueller, D., Paul, P., Plewa, D., Raid, R., Robertson, A.E., Salgado, C., Smith, D., Telenko, D., VanEtten, K., Kleczewski, N.M. 2022. Phyllachora species infecting maize and other grass species in the Americas represents a complex of closely related species. Ecology and Evolution. 12(4): Article e8832. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8832.
    
  • Building more resilient culture collections: A call for increased deposits of plant-associated bacteria -(Review Article)
    Broders, K., Aspin, A., Bailey, J., Chapman, T., Portier, P., Weir, B.S. 2022. Building more resilient culture collections: A call for increased deposits of plant-associated bacteria. Microorganisms. 10(4). Article 741. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040741.
    
  • A large accessory genome and high recombination rates may influence global distribution and broad host range of the fungal plant pathogen Claviceps purpurea -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Wyka, S., Mondo, S., Liu, M., Nalam, V., Broders, K. 2022. A large accessory genome and high recombination rates may influence global distribution and broad host range of the fungal plant pathogen Claviceps purpurea. PLoS Pathogens. 17(2). Article e0263496. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263496.
    
  • DNA sequence-based identification of Fusarium: A work in progress -(Review Article)
    O'Donnell, K., Whitaker, B.K., Laraba, I., Proctor, R.H., Brown, D.W., Broders, K., Kim, H.-S., McCormick, S.P., Busman, M., Aoki, T., Torres-Cruz, T.J., Geiser, D.M. 2022. DNA sequence-based identification of Fusarium: A work in progress. Plant Disease. 106(6):1597-1609. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-21-2035-SR.
    
  • FUSARIUM-ID v.3.0: An updated, downloadable resource for Fusarium species identification -(Database / Dataset)
    Torres-Cruz, T.J., Whitaker, B.K., Proctor, R.H., Broders, K., Laraba, I., Kim, H.-S., Brown, D.W., O'Donnell, K., Estrada-Rodriguez, T.L., Lee, Y.-H., Cheong, K., Wallace, E.C., McGee, C.T., Kang, S., Geiser, D.M. 2022. FUSARIUM-ID v.3.0: An updated, downloadable resource for Fusarium species identification. Plant Disease. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-21-2105-SR.
    
  • Mining indole alkaloid synthesis gene clusters from genomes of 53 Claviceps strains revealed redundant gene copies and an approximate evolutionary hourglass model -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Liu, M., Findlay, W., Dettman, J., Wyka, S.A., Broders, K., Shoukouhi, P., Dadej, K., Kolarik, M., Basnyat, A., Menzies, J.G. 2021. Mining indole alkaloid synthesis gene clusters from genomes of 53 Claviceps strains revealed redundant gene copies and an approximate evolutionary hourglass model. Toxins. 13(11). Article 799. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13110799.